Amiri Baraka, militant man of letters, leader of the 1960s Black Arts movement, a tireless agitator whose blues-based poems, plays and criticism made him a provocative and groundbreaking force in culture, a father to us at Chimurenga has died. He was 79.
Short Speech to My Friends (2:27): MP3
I Love Music (2:15): MP3
“With Diz gone, it’s like you don’t even feel safe around here no more. Really, like you don’t even feel safe!” – Amiri Baraka, “To Be or Not To Bop” published in Chimurenga 15: The Curriculum is Everything (May ’10) .